Harbor Commission hears ideas for Lower Castaways

March 21, 2013

Updated 1:17 p.m.

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Lower Castaways is the last undeveloped city-owned waterfront property in Newport Harbor. The future of the four-acre site along Dover Drive and Pacific Coast Highway is under discussion. TAYLOR HILL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Lower Castaways is the last undeveloped city-owned waterfront property in Newport Harbor. The future of the four-acre site along Dover Drive and Pacific Coast Highway is under discussion. TAYLOR HILL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

NEWPORT BEACH – More options were discussed for the future of Lower Castaways – the last city-owned waterfront parcel zoned for development in Newport Harbor.

The four-acre site along Pacific Coast Highway and Dover Drive has been looked at as a potential boat launching site, but many other options were suggested in public comments at the March 13 meeting of the Harbor Commission.

Ideas included reviving the old Will Wright's ice cream shop that once inhabited the site, developing a non-motorized craft launching area, building a public pier or a dry boat storage facility, creating a community garden, forming a hike, bike, and paddle connection point from Back Bay to the harbor, or leasing the space to be used for projects that would benefit the public.

In addition, two speakers raised the idea of giving Newport Beach resident and shipwright Dennis Holland the opportunity to use the site in its interim state as a shipbuilding location to complete the restoration of the 72-foot wooden sailboat Shawnee.

"Dennis had to take that boat apart when the city said he couldn't build it in his yard," said Newport Beach resident Don Rapinski. "I think it would be marvelous thing to see it be built at this site; Dennis thinks it could be used as a teaching tool for the public, to actually train people in boat building."

The wooden ship, originally built in 1913, has brought division between the city's current rules and its boat building past, as a new ordinance required Holland to remove Shawnee from his side yard along Holiday Road in October 2012. According to the new ordinance, the project's years-long timeline did not meet the city's long-term residential boat storage and construction rules. The vessel, which Holland had planned to reconstruct, now sits in pieces at Holland's residence.

"This is supposed to be a so-called sailing city," said former Bayshores resident Gordon Glass. "This could be a way to erase in many people's minds, the shabby way Dennis was treated."

Orange County Coastkeepers founder Garry Brown thought the site could be used as a marine restoration and education center focusing on the environmental aspects of the harbor, and potentially creating a marine outdoor laboratory to be used by local colleges and for school field trips.

Billy Whitford, director at Newport Aquatics Center, thought the land could be used as a land/water connecting point from the bay to Upper Castaways Park.

"With a long dock down there, you could access the site from the water on a paddleboard of kayak, and hike or bike along Upper Castaways, or walk over to the shops across the street," Whitford said. "I think it would be cool to keep the last piece of property as open space."

After hearing from a number of speakers, Harbor Commissioner Brad Avery surmised the possibility of using the site for multiple uses.

"I think this spot could be well-served for many of these ideas," Avery said. "The walk, bike, paddle idea, the environmental aspect with the CoastKeeper, and maybe there's someone on the site building a boat – maybe we can lease the concrete pads out to people for projects with time limits; this could be a flexible spot geared towards all of these activities."

The Lower Castaways site was deeded to the city in 2008 by the Irvine Co., who gave up the land in development negotiations dealing with Fashion Island. Prior to the negotiations, Irvine Co. included plans to develop a 71-slip commercial marina on the site. Now, the site is used as a staging area for harbor dredging projects, and also for construction vehicle parking for the Mariner's Pointe retail development center across the street.

Before project plans can be designed, the site will need to be rezoned from planned community to recreational use, and cannot include competing uses to Irvine Co.'s marina company, California Recreation Co.

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